Summer Food!

I'm not sure what prompted my desire to cook all day when the temperature hit a record 30C here in London, but I'm glad I did. I've been toying with several recipes over the last couple days, and today seemed to be the day to make them all!

On the plate above, is the following:

• Roasted potatoes with lemon & dill
• Chicken salad with celery, mayonaise & paprika
• Roasted chicken leg with homemade whole grain honey mustard sauce
• Roasted asparagus wrapped in grilled bacon
• A really delicious salad (recipe stolen from one of Tamryn's friends) that's got yam (meant to be pumpkin, but yanno), onion, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, bacon bits, roasted almonds & pine nuts, and a dressing made of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, whole grain mustard and honey (YUM!).

I'm actually quite pleased with how everything turned out, especially the yam salad. Everything looks all summery and begs to be eaten with lemonade (or Pimm's!) on a hot day. Just like today.

If I'm still on this ambitious kick later I'd like to try to make a meringue or pavlova... but that depends. Never made either, so it'll be an experiment, but perhaps one that needs doing. I'll report back later!

Savannah

Meet Savannah. The 4-month-old daughter of Damian & Chelsea, ex-flatmates and friends. She's very cute and very giggly. She spent the afternoon (doused in sunscreen) at the park for Tamryn's farewell picnic. Couldn't resist snapping some photos.

Cardiff Castle

Welcome to Cardiff Castle!

The castle itself is a medieval castle, built on the site of a Roman fort, with a Norman keep inside and some Victorian mansions thrown in, just for good measure.

Above you can see the remains of the Roman wall built into the castle wall. Anything below the red brick line is Roman, while everything above is medieval.

Here you can see what remains of the Norman keep on the mound. It was built in 1091.

You can see the remains of graffiti inside the keep as well. Graffiti took more effort back then.

Here is a panorama of the inside of the keep.

This is the ceiling inside the Arab room of the Victorian mansion. It's even more impressive in person.

The inside of much of the mansion was built in medieval-style. It's horrible overdone, but very impressive none the less.

You can also walk along the perimeter of the castle, which, by the way, is HUGE!

If you would like to read more about Cardiff Castle, do either visit the Wikipedia page or the official web site.

Cardiff

Here are the collection of some random photos I snapped in and around Cardiff. The city itself is lovely, and had some lovely park space.

Located in said green space, a little stone circle! No indication of how old it was, or anything, but hey, it's a stone circle, I'll take it!

This is the front of the Cardiff Millennium Center.

Inscribed on the front of the dome, above the main entrance, are two poetic lines, written by Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis. The Welsh version is Creu Gwir fel gwydr o ffwrnais awen, which means "Creating truth like glass from the furnace of inspiration". The English is In These Stones Horizons Sing. The lettering is formed by windows in the upstairs bar areas and are internally illuminated at night.

It is located right in the Bay area and fans of Torchwood probably identify it as part of the location where many scenes are shot.

That would probably explain the following memorial wall:

This would appear to be a memorial wall for a character in Torchwood named Ianto. I'm not familiar with Torchwood much, and cannot remember who he is. Perhaps someone can enlighten us?

A couple more shots of the bay area and the Millennium Center.

Despite many people here in London sneering a bit when I said I was heading to Cardiff, I loved the city and am looking forward to returning.

St. John the Baptist Church, Cardiff

Welcome to St. John the Baptist Church in Cardiff. It is the oldest church in the city centre of Cardiff, and the oldest bits in the church date from 1490. It was lovely, although there is little information about it on the internet, so you'll have to make do with the pictures.

As well, since it was raining, I didn't get any proper photos of the outside, so I'll have to do that next time!

Portobello Road Market

As I haven't yet gotten around to editing and posting the rest of my Cardiff photos, here are some of the photos I took while wandering around with Amanda in Portobello Road Market yesterday. It's starting to get packed now, as tourist season approaches its peak, and I fear I no longer have the patience for it. If I do visit again before I leave, it'll be first thing in the morning, and I'll be sure to make a run for it before everyone else starts to show up.

Still, one of my favourite markets. x

Cardiff

Rwy'n meddwl mynd i Gymru achos rwy'i wdi clywed ei bod hi'n gret yno.

(Rough Translation: I'm thinking of visiting Wales because I heard it's great.)

In fact, I've been to Wales and back, and it was great! Sorting through photos now, though am heading out to the movies tonight, so won't get a proper couple of posts up until tomorrow some time. Just thought I'd keep your interest with one for now.

Borough Market

Today Tamryn and I went to Borough Market to enjoy all the fresh food offered on the South Bank. Other than the impulse buy of some mushroom pate (yes, I'm serious, and yes, it's awesome), all I did was take some photos. Unfortunately the rain didn't offer much in terms of a lovely day, so we headed back home after the market. For now, though, enjoy what photos I did manage to take!

Fulham v Stoke

Hello again! So, last night I finally ticked one more "must-see" of my list here in London - I went to see a proper football (soccer to you lot) match! I went with my friend Jonna and we sat right behind the net - a very interesting angle to watch the game from, but quite fun to take photos from!

Now of course, given that kick-off was at 8 p.m., it was getting quite dark, so I had to pump the iso (graininess) up quite a bit to capture the action. Not the best shots I've ever taken, but I had lots of fun!

The game took place at the Fulham Football Club, and it was Fulham v Stoke. Unfortunately Stoke won 1-0 in the last ten minutes, but really... I didn't care. Heh. I was there to watch the game. It was good fun, though I doubt I'll ever really be one of those shouty football-types. I really can't be bothered to hurl abuse at people I've never met. Heh.